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OV:I"ON COJNTY. 


A D D R -; S S 


OF 

ALBE:^T Y. GOODPASTURE. 


DELIVERED AT 


Livingston, 'I'ennessee, 


July 4th, 1876. 

1 


CUMBEI 


t 

NASHVILLE, TENN.: 
ILAND PRESBYTERIAN PUBLISHING HOUSE, 

41 UNION STREET. 

1877. 







OVERTON COUNTY. 



ry.^^-' 



ADDRESS 



OF 



ALBERT Y. GOODPASTURE, 



DELIVEKED AT 



I Livingston, Tennessee, 

July 4th, 1876. 



NASHVILLE, TENN.: 

CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN PUBLISHING HOUSE, 

41 UNION STREET. 

1877. 



\ 






OVEETON COUNTY. 



LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: 

At a meeting of the citizens of Overton county, held at 
the court-house in Livingston, on the first Monday in May, 
1876, the following, among other resolutions, was passed, 
viz. : 

"i2f.so^j;e<i, That A. V. Goodpasture be appointed and re- 
quested to deliver an address in Livingston, to the people of 
Overton county, on the 4th of July, 'embracing the entire 
history of the county,' as requested by a resolution of Con- 
gress, recently transmitted to our Governor by Secretary 
Fish." ^ ^ 

In response to this resolution, I have done what I could to 
collect and arrange the early history of our county, and I 
appear before you to-day to give you the result of my labor. 

This is not the centennial anniversary of our county, but 
of our republic and our system of government. Our experi- 
ment is a success ! The Declaration of Independence, on the 
4th of July, 1776, prepared the way for that magnificent 
edifice, wliose durable groundwork is independence, and 
whose splendid superstructure is liberty. Under the sublime 
theory of self-government by the people, what was, one hun- 
dred years ago, thirteen English Colonies, upon the Atlantic 
border of a vast and unexplored wilderness, is now the thirty- 
eight United States of America, which stands peer to the 
greatest nations of the world. It is my pleasure, to-day, to 
speak of the part which Overton county has taken in that 
wonderful transformation. 



4 OVERTON COUNTY. 

ITS LOCATION. 

Among the thirteen States which were parties to the De- 
claration of Independence, was that of North Carolina. 
There was no Tennessee then; but in the western district 
of the old North State, lay a beautiful and luxuriant country, 
stretching from the Allegheny mountains to the Mississippi 
river, and rich in all the natural resources necessary to a 
great state. The pioneer sons of this country, in whose 
honor we are proud to participate, led by the peerless 
" Noli chucky Jack," gave an impetus to the Revolutionary 
cause at King's mountain, which was the beginning of the 
end at Yorktown. The cession of this country to the United 
States, by the State of North Carolina, was accepted in 1790, 
after which it remained as the Territory of the United States 
South of the Ohio river, until 1796, when it was admitted 
into the Union as the State of Tennessee, and "Nolichucky 
Jack" (John Sevier) was its first Governor. 

In the northern part of this State, hovering between the 
majestic Cumberland mountains, which overlook it on the 
east like Uri or Appenzell, where "liberty is only less eternal 
than the rocks which guard it," lies the county of Overton. 
One hundred years ago, when our fathers were signing the 
Declaration of Independence, the foot of civilized man had 
never pressed its generous soil. It was the home of the wild 
beast, and the hunting-ground of the savage Indian. It 
yielded spontaneously and bountifully the finest vegetation. 
Its mountains and hills were clothed with majestic forests, 
and its coves and valleys were covered with a rich and luxu- 
riant growth of cane and grass. But in those romantic and 
adventurous times, all eyes were turned toward the unpene- 
trated wilderness, and the tide of emigration and of civiliza- 
tion rolled on to the West. 

FIRST VISITED. 

In 1783, the Legislature of North Carolina passed an act 
erecting the county of Davidson, which extended from the 
Cumberland mountains to the Tennessee river, and from the 
northern boundary of the State, to a line extending due east 
from Duck river, at a point near the center of what is now 



OVERTON COUNTY. 5 

the western line of Hickman county, being tlie fourth county 
created in the territory of wliat is now Tennessee, and was 
then "Washington county. Until 1786, this section of country 
remained a part of the old county of Davidson, hut no trace 
of civilization had yet marred its native wildness. In 178G, 
the county of Davidson was divided by a line, commencing 
in what is now the Kentucky line, and following the eastern 
boundaries of the present counties of Kobertson and David- 
son to Stones river, and thence up Stones river to its south- 
ern boundary, and out of the eastern portion, whicli 
included what is now Overton county, the county of 
Sumner was established. And it was in that year that a trio 
of bold and daring adventurers, Crockett, Drake, and Man- 
sico, wandered into this dangerously wild country. They 
came, not as immigrants seeking a western home, but as fear- 
less hunters, attracted by the abundance of bear, bufi'alo, 
deer, and other valuable game, whicli flourished in its ver- 
dant v;^oodlands and prairies. They established a camp 
about two hundred and fifty yards from where Isaac Cooper 
now lives, close to the margin of Matthew's creek, and 
hunted from the open land south of its head, to what was 
then known as the "Buzzard Cane," being the present farm 
of Mrs. C. P. Gardenhire. During their stay they collected 
many skins, but danger and death were all the while lurking 
around their camp. And at last they were discovered by the 
jealous and merciless Indians; their camp was attacked, and 
Crockett was killed. Drake and Mansico escaped, and soon 
afterwards left for Stockton's Valley in Kentucky, and never 
returned. It is said that the grave of Crockett is yet to be 
seen, and I trust that its place may one day be marked, so 
that it may ever be preserved and cherished, as a memorial 
of the first white man whose fortune it was to visit and to 
die in what is now Overton county. 

FIRST SETTLEMENTS. 

By the treaty of Ilolston, entered into by the United States 
and the Cherokee Nation in 1791, a district of country was 
set apart for the Cherokees, the western boundary of which 
extended in a south-westerly direction from the south fork 



6 OVERTON COUNTY. 

of the Cnmberland river, where it intersects the northern 
boundary of the State, to the ridge separating the waters of 
the Duck and Cumberland rivers, forty-five miles above 
Nashville, which line passed through what is now Overton 
county, about two and a half miles east of the present town 
of Livingston. By an act of the General Assembly, in 1798, 
the line of the Indian reservation was made the western 
boundary of Sumner county, which in 1799, was reduced to 
its constitutional limits, and the new counties of Smith and 
"Wilson were established : the former of which included all of 
that part of Overton county west of the reservation line 
under the treaty of Holston. Up to this time the Cherokee 
had been undisputed lord and monarch of all this section of 
country, but early in the spring of 1799, Col. Stephen Cope- 
land, a representative of one of the old families ot ITorth 
Carolina, accompanied by his son Jo, who was afterwards 
familiarly known as Big Jo, left the good old county of Jef- 
ferson, to seek a home in the new country beyond the Indian 
line. Following an Indian trail over the dark ravines and 
precipitous cliffs of the Cumberland mountains, where the 
venomous serpent and ravenous beast kept their vigils by 
night and by day, these fearless pioneers, laden with the 
scanty supplies which they had brought with them from 
Kingston, pursued their lonely journey. A beautiful cane- 
break in the valley of the roaring river arrested their atten- 
tion, and recommended itself as a desirable location, and 
there on the farm where the widow "Wilson now lives, they 
pitched their camp, and planted the first crop of corn that 
was ever grown in the limits of Overton county. While 
here. Col. Copeland hunted many days and camped many 
nights with the famous Indian chief, IS'ettle Carrier, whom 
he always remembered as a kind and devoted friend, a gen- 
erous and congenial companion, and a nobleman by nature. 
ITettle Carrier left his camp on the creek which now bears his 
name, during that summer, and was never seen more in his 
old hunting ground, though in 1813, as one of the chiefs and 
councilors of the Cherokees, he signed an authority for a 
turnpike company to open a road through the reservation. 
After they were done cultivating their crop, Col. Copeland 



OVERTON COUNTY. 7 

and his son returned to Jeiferson county for the rest of their 
family. 

In the early part of the same year, John Goodpasture and 
two other young- men, wliose names I am unable to call, 
found their way from the old Dominion State to the then 
most inviting country, near where Ililham was afterwards 
located. They brought with them tliree horses and two 
cows, together with a little salt and meal, which they ob- 
tained at Kingston, and extemporized a home on Buffalo 
creek, near where Thos. J. Murphy now lives. There they 
raised a crop, and returned to Virginia for their families. 
Not long afterwards other immigrants settled in the north- 
eastern part of the county, among whom were Ned Irons, a 
Mr. Biles, and Robert Hill, who located on what is now 
Irons' creek. 

During the whole of this season these pioneers lived en- 
tirely without bread, and yet their fare was sumptuous. 
They were not long in being educated to the wild meats, and 
the buffalo, bear, elk, deer and turkey were always at their 
command. They then found that bread could easily be dis- 
pensed with, dried venison, or "jerk," as it was called, tak- 
ing its place. Big Jo Copeland used to relate, that when his 
father and himself stopped at Kingston on their return to 
East Tennessee, he called for some corn bread, thinking it 
would be a great luxury; but when brought, he found it so 
dry and harsh that he could not swallow it, whereupon he 
repared to his wallet and substituted "jerk." And Billy 
Upton, when his corn began to mature in the fall, made him 
a mortar and pestle, with which he manufactured a small 
quantity of meal, and gave it to his wife, anticipating a royal 
supper. When supper was announced, Billy was of course 
present, but seeing none of the new viand before him, he 
asked, "Wife, where is the bread?" The good lady with 
profound amazement and equal mortification, exclaimed, 
"The Lord have mercy, William, I clear forgot your bread!" 
But they were not long to live on meat alone; bread fol- 
lows close in the footsteps of civilization. When the}^ re- 
turned in the fall of 1799, together with many others, among 
whom was our venerable fellow-citizen Hiram M. Allen, 



OVERTON COUNTY. 

who, then quite a 3'outh, accompanied his father and settled 
on Flat creek, where he now lives, they found that nature 
had liberally responded to their demands, and yielded them a 
bountiful harvest of corn. But as one of the inconveniences 
consequent upon the early settlement of a country, they were 
for a time forced to do their milling at Dixon's Springs, now 
in Smith county, at a distance of more than sixty miles. In 
the same fall the buflalo, as though he was conscious that his 
presence was no longer necessary to sustain the thrifty pio- 
neer, retired, with his companion, the red man, still further 
from the approaching lights of civilization. From that time 
a host of immigrants found their way to this new settlement, 
and staked their fortunes upon its future destiny. Among 
these were the Seviers, Win dies, Nelsons, Tottens, McDon- 
alds, Matthewses, and many other families which have shed 
lustre, as well upon the name of the State, as that of the 
county. But Solomon Copeland, who immigrated to this 
world in the same year, as the son of Col. Stephen Copeland, 
above all others, deserves particular mention in this connec- 
tion, being the first born of his race in the bounds of Over- 
ton county. 

MOSES FISK 

November 6, 1801, the General Assembly established the 
county of Jackson, which included all that part of Overton 
which had been previously included in the county of Smith, 
and provided " that the Courts of Pleas and Quarter Sessions 
of Jackson county shall be held ... at the house of 
John Brown, on lioaring river," which place is in the present 
limits of Overton county, and has since been popularly 
known as the Jackson old court-house. 

During the time in which Overton county was a part of 
Jackson, and soon after the organization of the latter, a most 
remarkable and celebrated character began to figure in its 
history. Dr. Moses Fisk, a native of Massachusetts, was a 
learned man, a graduate of Harvard University, and a class- 
mate of Levi Hedge and John Quincy Adams. He came to 
Tennessee in a very early day, and figured prominently in 
her histor}'. In 1797 he wao licensed to practice law in the 



OVERTON COUNTY. V 

Courts of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, and in 1798, in all the 
Courts of Law and Equity of the State of Tennessee. In 
1801 he was Chairman of the County Court of Smith county, 
and the 18th section of the act erecting the county of Jack- 
son, provided that he should be authorized and empowered 
to administer the oath of office to the first justices of said 
county. And he assisted in revising and compiling the 
laws of the State, in pursuance of an act passed Nov. 3, 1803. 
He was also a fine mathematician and a practical surveyor, 
and in pursuance of an act of the General Assembly, passed 
Nov. 13, 1801, he was appointed by Gov. Archibald Roane, 
to act with Gen. John Sevier, and Gen. George Rutledge, as 
a commissioner on the part of the State of Tennessee, to set- 
tle and designate the true boundary between this State and 
the State of Virginia. He also did a large amount of local 
surveying, and in that way became familiar with the loca- 
tions of land in that section of country. And about the 
year 1803, he entered a large body of land in the Overton 
portion of Jackson county, in which, in 1805, he carefully 
and accurately laid off" the site of the first village that was 
ever founded in Overton county, which his sanguine tem- 
perament caused him to picture as a great southern emporium 
of the future, and called its name Hilham. He was a literary man, 
and had been eno;ao;ed in writins: a Greek Grammar; but in 
his new relations as a pioneer and the founder of a great 
city, he laid aside his MSS., and bent all his energies to one 
purpose — the upbuilding of Hilham. Although his extrava- 
gant anticipations were in no wise realized, yet he spent, out 
of his own means, many thousands of dollars in public im- 
provements, looking to their consummation. On the 19tli 
day of October, 1812, he obtained a charter from the General 
Assembly to open a turnpike road from Hilham to the high- 
lands south of Roaring river, crossing below its junction 
with Spring creek. Nov. 7, 1817, he obtained a charter to 
open a turnpike road from Hilham to Obeds river, near Wm. 
Dale's. He also contemplated opening, and perhaps partly 
opened, a road from Williamsburgh, then the county site of 
Jackson county, to Monroe, the county site of Overton, in- 
tersectino^ these other roads at Hilham. 



10 . OVERTON COUNTY. 

But these are not the only meanp which he emploj^ed. He 
was, perhaps, the most efficient patron of learning, and did 
more to encourage and disseminate education than any man 
who has ever lived in our county. In 1796, he was appointed 
a trustee of Davidson Academy, and afterwards, in 1806, he 
was appointed a trustee of Cumberland College, when Da- 
vidson Academy was merged in that institution. In the 
same year, he was appointed a trustee of Overton Acadeni}^, 
and also of Fisk Female Academy. The act of the General 
Assembly incorporating Fisk Female Academy recited, "that 
Moses Fisk and Sampson Williams are willing to contribute 
one thousand acres of land each toward the endowment of a 
female academy, to be established at a place called Hilham, 
on the eastern part of Magnolia river, in the county of 
Overton," and Dr. Fisk, out of his munificence,'built a com- 
modious academy, which, unfortunately for the county, had 
only been occupied one session when it was accidentally 
destroyed by fire. But his eftbrts did not stop here. He yet 
taught many schools, and educated many young men who 
became bright and shining stars in the galaxy of our country's 
honored sons. 

OVERTON COUNTY ORGANIZED. 

At this time Overton county was .p^Bping through what 
may be called its chrysalis state, and it was not until 1806, 
being thirty years after the Declaration of Independence, 
that it was fully clothed with all the dignity of a county. 
The Indian line, vinder the treaty of Holston, running 
through Overton county, the county of Jackson never in- 
cluded all of what is now Overton county. But, by a treaty 
between the chiefs of the Cherokees and the United States, 
concluded January 7, 1806, all that territory was ceded to the 
United States for the use of Tennessee; and afterwards, on 
the 12th of September, in the same year, the Legislature 
established the county of Overton, which included, besides 
its present limits, all of Fentress count}^ and a large part 
of the counties of Clay, Putnam, Cumberland, Morgan, and 
Scott. The ninth section of the act erecting the county of 
Overton, provided that the courts of said county should be 



OVERTON COUNTY. , 11 

held at the house of Benjamin Totten, who then lived on 
Eagle creek. Benjamin Totten was the first County Court 
Clerk; John B. Cross, the first Sherift"; James Turney, w^ho 
gave bond March 13, 1810, the first Circuit Court Clerk; and 
James Taylor, Wm. Evans, Isaac Oaks, Jolm Kagan, John 
Coonz, Abel Willis, James Turner, Francis McConnell, Rob- 
ert Mitchell, Squire Poteet, Samuel Brown, Peter Williams, 
Allen McDonnold, George Armstrong, John Taylor, and 
Henr}^ Rayburn, who were commissioned April 22, 1807, 
were the first Justices for the county. The military depart- 
ment was also organized in the same year, and the oflicers 
commissioned May 13, 1807, as follows : Stephen Copeland, 
Lieutenant Colonel, commandant of Overton county; John 
B. Cross, First Major; Charles Sevier, Second Major; James 
Turner, Captain; John Armstrong, Lieutenant; Spencer 
Gregor, Ensign; Charles Matlock, Captain; Peter Williams, 
Lieutenant; Alexander Baxter, Ensign; John Copeland, Cap- 
tain; Richard Copeland, Jr., Lieutenant; John Morris, En- 
sign ; James Goodpasture, Captain ; Robert O'Neal, Captain ; 
James M. Mitchell, Lieutenant; Wm. Livingston, Ensign; 
Wm. Young, Captain; John Jones, Lieutenant; Josiali Der- 
ham. Ensign. 

This marks an important epoch in the history of Overton 
county. In the amazingly short period of seven years, our 
fathers had reclaimed a wilderness, and entitled it to a dis- 
tinct place in the grand mechanism of the State. The unfor- 
tunate Lidian, who once triumphantly chased the deer and 
the buftalo over our hills and plains, had even now 

" Gone — glimmering through the dreams of things that were ; 
A school-boy's tale, the wonder of an hour !" 

And the bear, once so plentiful that big Jo. Copeland killed 
as many as sixty-two grown ones in a single hunting season, 
had fled for safety to his mountain-den ; and all was now life 
and enterprise and expectation. 

mo:n^roe. 

The courts continued to be held at the Benjamin Totten 
old place until the General Assembly passed an act, April 
20, 1809, repealing the ninth section of the act establishing 



12 , OVERTON COUNTY. 

the county, and providing that after the 1st day of June, 
1810, the courts of the county should be held at the town of 
Monroe. In 1809, George Wallis opened a modest little store 
in Monroe, and was authorized by the Legislature to retail 
merchandize as a hawker or pedler through the counties 
which at that time composed the Winchester district, when 
he oiFered for sale the first goods that were ever sold in Over- 
ton county. But the facilities for transportation at that time 
were very bad, many of the old citizens of the county now 
living having seen wagon-loads of goods unpacked in Mon- 
roe which had been loaded in the city of Baltimore, from 
which place most of the merchandize of that period was 
hauled. Monroe was in a prosperous and thriving condition 
until about 1823, when it had between thirty and forty fami- 
lies and about three hundred or three hundred and fifty in- 
habitants, many of whom were afterwards leading men in 
the politics of the State. 

RIVER SETTLEMENTS. 

But, in the mean time, the river portion of the county was 
being rapidly settled. Near the mouth of Iron's Creek a 
mill had been erected by Robert Hill, not long subsequent to 
similar improvements in the western part of the county by 
Simeon Hinds and others, about the year 1804 or 1805; and 
Joseph H. Windle, who came to the county in an early day 
and settled on a part of the land which had been granted by 
the government to his father-in-law. Gov. John Sevier, 
opened a store at Sinking Spring, on the same creek. From 
this time flat-boating became the favorite and profitable avo- 
cation of many of the river settlers. These flat-boats were 
invariably accompanied with the old time bugle, and in the 
spring time, when the tides began to rise, on almost any still, 
quiet evening, the lonesome sounds of many of these bugles 
could he heard reverberating from clifi:' to cliff, and carried 
for miles upon the peaceful bosom of the river, as it mean- 
dered through its rich but uncultivated valleys, proclaiming 
that their boats were coming to the land. Often times these 
hardy boatsmen carried their produce to New Orleans, sold 
their boat and caro^o, and walked back to their mountain- 



OVERTON COTNTY. 13 

homes. An old citizen of the county relates an incident in 
the life of Wallace Bickerstatf, which fairly illustrates the 
hardihood and good nature of these early river-men. Bick- 
erstaff had sold out at New Orleans, and, with a number of 
others, was walking back. On the way, and just before they 
met a party of ladies and gentlemen of the more densely 
populated South, he had placed two or three fence-rails upon 
his shoulder. When he met this party, they w^ere very much 
surprised, as he had supposed, to see him carrying these 
rails, and asked the cause. "Oh," said Bickerstatf, "some 
of the boys are sorter sick, and I just take these 'ere along 
to make a bridge across the creeks for 'em!" These were 
delightful times to those old boatsmeu, and many of them, 
even now, remember the day wath more of pain than pleas- 
ure when the first steamer, whose shrill whistle echoed fi'om 
their native hills, robbed them of their beloved avocation. 

THE MILITIA. 

These sturdy jjioneers believed that they owed their first duty 
to their God, and their second to their countrj', and in this or- 
der we find that the two great occasions which brought them 
together were the camp-meeting and the general muster. 
On muster days everything else was laid aside, and the people, 
male and female, repaired en masse to the grounds. . If a 
man had anything in which he took a particular delight, 
he was only too happy to exhibit it at the general muster; 
if he had anything which he desired to sell, he would 
never miss this occasion to give it public notoriety; 
and if he had any difficulty to settle, it must be done 
on this chivalrous day. One of these muster-grounds 
was at Becky Watson's, two miles West of Livingston, 
who was at least celebrated, if not famous, in her day. 
She kept public house, and always had plenty to eat and 
drink, and it was of her that the famous old song, "Go to 
Becky Watson's to get some cider," which to-day is sung and 
admired in every land where the "Arkansas Traveler" is 
known and the "hoe down" is danced, was written. To give 
additional notoriety to this place, it w^as a favorite stand on 
the "great road" which, in those early days, before the iron 



14 OVERTON COUNTY. 

car was dashing with majestic speed all over our land, and 
when the princely steamer had never ploughed our majestic 
rivers, was the principal, and I may say, only thoroughfare 
connecting Huntsville, Alabama, with Lexington, Kentucky. 
The almost incredible trains of wagons which were con- 
stantly passing over this road, both North and South, always 
stopped at Becky Watson's, and many of our old citizens 
now living remember having seen as many as twenty wagons 
there at one time. 

These musters were strong cords to bind the hearts of the 
people to their country, and no county has ever possessed 
more of that early patriotism, which won for the State the 
distinguished and honorable appellation of "Volunteer," 
than Overton. In the war of 1812, it furnished four volun- 
teer companies, commanded respectively by John Ivenneday, 
Abel Willis, James Turner, and James McConnell. Its arms 
were again felt in the Florida war. And no more noble and 
valorous men were ever sacrificed to any cause than those 
who, in the spring of 1847, followed Capt. Creed T. Huddle- 
ston to the burning plains of Mexico. In the fall of 1847, 
another volunteer company was organized, of which Capt. 
J. R. Copeland was elected Captain, defeating the old and 
tried veteran of 1812, Capt. Kenneday; but their services 
werQ never demanded. Their worthy and honored Captain, 
however, was immediately called to the Quartermasters 
department by President Polk, with the rank of Captain. 
Of those brave men whom Capt. Huddleston led through the 
Mexican war, only twenty-nine ever returned to their homes, 
and the remaining seventy-one stand upon the melancholy 
list of the lost, a sacred monument to the valor of the Over- 
ton county volunteers. In storming Chepultepec, fourteen 
of this number were killed, and many others wounded, by 
one shell, among whom was the companion on either side of 
Capt. Luther B. Myers, who, of all the number, alone remains 
in this county. 

Nothing was more repugnant to the feelings of those men, 
than the idea of being drafted into the service when their 
country was suffering for their aid. To illustrate this, we 
will take the case of Capt. Willis, who, as senior Captain of 



OVERTON COUNTY. 15 

the militia regiment which mustered at Becky Watson's, 
was ordered to draft a company for service in the war of 1812. 
When the regiment met at the muster-ground, Capt. Willis 
read the order and made them a short speech, lie told them 
that he knew the patriotism of the Overton militia, and that 
he was sorry that they had not known that their services 
were needed before this order came, but that even now he 
thought that they might be admitted into the army as volun- 
teers. In concluding, he took the flag of his country in 
his hand, and, walking out upon the muster-ground, asked 
all who were willing to follow that flag to the war to step to 
the front. That was an appeal which they never 3'et resisted, 
and they immediately responded, and no man was wanting 
to make a volunteer company from the militia of Overton 
county. Among the first of these gallant men to obey their 
country's call, was Capt. Hiram M. Allen, then a young man, 
who, upon the day before he left for the seat of war, was 
married to his aflianced, Miss Betsy Bryan. And I desire 
here to record the fact that, out of more than two thou- 
sand men w^hich it has sent out for the common weal, no 
conscript company, in any war, has ever left the soil of Over- 
ton county. 

CAPT. JOHN KENNEDAY. 

And its citizens were all proud of our Democratic Repub- 
lican form of government, where every man is politically 
free and equal, with one notable exception. Capt. John 
Kenneday, who, as we have seen, commanded a company in 
the war of 1812, was a military man by nature and u monar- 
chist by intuition. He had great reverence and respect for 
those in authority, and bore hard upon those whom it was 
his duty to command. He lived an avowed enemy to Gen. 
Jackson, and died in the belief that he should have been 
tried by a court-martial for insubordination, and divers other 
offenses against military law. He had many warm and de- 
voted friends, and, though a Whig, was for twenty-two years 
Register of the Democratic county of Overton. But his birth 
and origin are, unto this day, as profound a mystery as that 
of the "Man with the Iron Mask." 



16 OVERTON COUNTY. 

SOCIAL LIFE. 

To give you an idea of tlie social life of these early pio- 
neers, I can do no better than to read an elegant and inter- 
esting letter from our esteemed fellow-citizen, Capt. J. R. 
Copeland, in reply to a request for information concerning 
the early history of the county. Capt. Copeland is now a 
septigenarian, a son and grandson of the first two inhabit- 
ants of the county, and, therefore, speaks from personal 
knowledge. He says : 

"I was born in the year 1806, and it is, therefore, true that 
I have lived nearly three score and ten years in the bounds 
of Overton county, and have a vivid recollection of a great 
many of the habits and customs of the early settlers. 

I was here in the days of hunting shirts, moccasins, and 
buckskin pants, all of which articles I have worn myself; 
when the rifle was the constant companion of the early set- 
tler when he left his domicil and entered the woods. I was 
here in the days of log-cabins and puncheon floors; yes, and 
puncheon tables, for my first eating at table was upon a broad 
puncheon put upon legs ; when our meals were all eaten oft" 
pewter plates by the best livers; and what a pride our moth- 
ers took on Saturday evenings in scouring their pewter and 
having it all bright and shining! And those who could not 
afford pewter and tin, old Solomon AUread turned them 
plates and bowls out of wood on the turning-lathe. Num- 
bers of families used that kind of table-ware, for it was a long 
time before " delf-ware," as it was called, was brought to this 
country. I was here when our motliers and sisters manufac- 
tured from the raw materials of cotton, wool, and flax, all 
the wearing apparel of the family; calico was very scarce, 
and our mothers used to vie with each other in making the 
prettiest cotton frock — for that was the term used for dress 
in those days — and eyed each other very closely at church to 
see who had excelled. We had no buttons for our flax and 
eotton shirts, but our mothers had some inventive faculties, 
and they went to work, wrapped some thread round a goose- 
quill, slipped it oft*, and then worked it into a button with 
the needle. Pearl and ivory buttons were not known. For 
our coats, when we had any, we made some button-shapes 



OVERTON COUNTY. 17 

out of some pieces of gourd, and our mothers covered them 
with some of the same material of the garment. As for 
pants buttons, we had some trouble, and not a little sole- 
leather was used for that purpose; but some had instruments 
for cutting them out of horn and drilling them. 

Notwithstanding all this, the old settlers enjoyed them- 
selves well. They all had plenty of hog and hominy, as the 
saying was, and if any fell a little short, there was a great 
deal of hospitality in the county in those days. Some of the 
best livers enjoyed a cup of coffee on Sunday mornings. 

I forgot to say in the proper place, that Charles Sevier and 
James Dodson principally supplied the hats of the county, 
manufacturing them out of sheep's wool and coon's fur ; and 
that Josiah Copeland furnished the saddles — he made the 
trees and covered them. Paul Chapin was the principal 
blacksmith. Some of the best farmers used to raise some 
wheat, and large fields of rye, and large flax patches; and 
when harvest time came round, all the neighbors were asked 
to come in on a certain day with their families, and the men 
to bring their reap-hooks, for grain-cradles were but little 
known in those early days. When assembled, the men went 
to the grain-fields to reap down the grain, and the boys and 
girls, such as were able, repaired to the flax-patches, each 
lad generally choosing some rosy-cheeked lass to pull flax by 
his side ; and all went to work in good earnest. At the close 
of the day — the work being ended — all was good cheer, and 
a big egg-nog wound it all up. 

If men had fallings out in those days, the knife or pistol 
was not thought of, but if a collision occurred, it was entirely 
fisticufi". In those days, if an individual or his friends were 
disposed to boast of his manhood, it was not long until he 
had to fight somebody, just to see which could endure the most 
hard knocking, in a ring, with a man each to see that all 
went ofl^" in accordance with the "code of honor" of those 
days of fisticufi". This was in the days of the Williamses, 
Dales, and Matthewses, when they all used to meet at Rebecca 
Watson's." 

SCHOOLS. 

In 1833, Monroe, which was then the county-site of Overton 





18 OVERTON COUNTY. 

connty, became uneasy under its honors, for the aspiring 
little village of Livingston was its open and avowed rival. 
And although the people of that part of the county tried 
hard to retain the county-site there, yet in 1835, a decisive 
vote was taken and it was removed to Livingston, where it 
has ever since remained ; hut the contest was often close and 
bitter, and was never entirely abandoned until the adoption 
of the Constitution of 1870, which renders a two-thirds vote 
necessary to remove a county-site. While Monroe was its 
capital, and until the breaking out of the late civil war in 
1861, Overton county was in a state of unparalleled pros- 
perity. Its people, who had early been taught to regard 
industry and economy as Christian duties, were fast accumu- 
lating wealth. There had been many good schools in the 
county, and its people, as a community, were fairly educated. 
Among these schools, besides the noble and most successful 
efforts of Dr. Moses Fisk, at Hilham, of which I have spoken, 
Avas that of William Hall, who, at an early day, taught a 
very prosperous school of more than sixty pupils, for a num- 
ber of years at old Union meeting-house near Hilham. 
Judge Leonard also taught a fine school at Hilham. Li the 
Academy at Monroe, there was for some years a fl.ourishing 
school, under the superintendence of Sidney H. Little, who 
was afterwards a distinguished statesman and lawyer in the 
State of Illinois. But more important yet was the Alpine 
Institute of a later date, in reply to a request for an historical 
sketch of which, Hev. Wm. M. Dillard says: 

"John L. Dillard (my father) purchased the body of land, 
including those springs at Alpine, built more houses, and 
moved his family up there in 1846. Father immediately put 
up a roomy log building, and I commenced teaching in it in 
the fall of 1846 — same year. At the close of the first session 
of six months, I had forty — perhaps more — students. After 
a vacation of two or three weeks, I commenced teaching 
again. In a month or two my school became too large for me. 

In the fall of 1847, Mr. John L. Beveridge, now Governor 
of Illinois, visited us by invitation of my father, and entered 
this school as principal teacher, and we taught in connection 
a couple sessions. 



OVERTON COTNTY. 19 

Mr. Bcvcridge visited Illinois, married a wife, who returned 
with him, and both of them were instructors in the school. 
Soon afterwards a Mr. Huff — a young man of fine morals and 
educational qualifications — entered the school of Alpine. 

This school then had a corps of four or five teachers, who 
were constantly employed and did thorough w^ork. It was 
well endorsed by all the surrounding counties; received the 
influence and patronage of such good and useful men as 
Doke Capps, Esq., the Culloms, Bates, McHenry, Goodpas- 
tures, McDonnolds, Hayters, and Copelands. Many young 
men and ladies, not only from the surrounding counties of 
Fentress, Jackson, Smith, and Wilson, but from Kentucky 
and other States, received the most, if not all their beneficial 
education at Alpine Institute. Often have I been told by 
many of the good and useful men of your county, since the 
unfortunate close of the Alpine Institute, that it gave to all 
your county a new and fine impulse; that it had a fine bear- 
ing — a splendid influence upon your county; and though it 
existed in full operation only about five years, its good effects 
are still plainly seen and powerfully felt." 

At this school some of the leading men of our country 
were educated, among whom I will only mention Judge 
Mike Ousley, of Kentucky; Dr. P. D. Sims, of Chattanooga; 
Judge James W. McHenry, of Nashville ; Capt. H. H. Dil- 
lard, of Cookeville; Maj. John G. Lowe, of Ilartsville; and 
Judge "W". W. Goodpasture, of Livingston. 

THE WAR. 

But, ladies and gentlemen, I cannot dwell longer upon the 
earlier history of the count3\ Its prosperity was not long to 
continue unbroken. In 1861, it participated in that great 
political upheaval which shook the very foundation of our 
government. Of what followed I shall only speak in the 
most general way, for many of you know it much better and 
can appreciate it much more keenly than I. Our county 
went with our State, and, as one of the border counties of 
the Southern Confederacy, was exposed to that general devas- 
tation and destruction attendant upon a relentless civil war, 
embittered by the cruel and merciless depredations of gueril- 



20 OVERTON COUNTY. 

las and busliwliackers, and all the horrors and inhumanities 
of border warfare. But in this, as in all other wars, it did 
its duty to the cause it espoused. It gave to the Confederate 
army Brig. Gen. Gregg; three Colonels, John M. Hughes, 
F. H. Daugherty, and Samuel Davis; and twelve companies 
of volunteer troops, which won many laurels for themselves 
as well as their county. 

There is one instance of Overton county heroism which I 
cannot forbear here to relate. I know that heroes are com- 
monly thought to be remarkable beings who once lived, but 
whose heroism cost them their lives; and I am aware that it 
is not often that the world has ever recognized them, l)ecause 
their heroism is seldom discovered until they are dead. But 
the conduct of Col. John M. Hughes iu front of Richmond, 
was as grandly heroic as that of Joan of Arc at Orleans, or 
the "Drummer Boy" at Gettysburg. He was in command 
of a Confederate brigade, and with a force of four hundred 
and fifty men and ofiicers, was the only defense of the Con- 
federate States capital, and was forced to meet and expected 
to hold in check a grand army of twenty thousand Federal 
soldiers. He met them boldly, but was driven back two and 
a half miles to Fort Harrison, where, with his exhausted 
men, he made a desperate attempt to resist their further pro- 
gress until Gen. Lee's forces could arrive from Petersburg. 
There he sat upon his horse and saw the enemy make their 
grand charge, four lines of battle deep; he saw his gallant 
little band, w^ho were many of them city troops in their first 
engagement, waver and give way before the resistless shock. 
Every effort to cause them to stand was fruitless, save upon a 
few brave men from his own regiment, who were captured. 
At this trying and critical moment, Gen. Gregg exclaimed, 
"My God, Colonel, what shall we do?" With the calm and 
determined manner of a hero, as he was. Col. Hughes replied, 
"lam going to give them the best I have before I leave." 
The enemy had advanced to within forty feet of where Col. 
Hughes was standing, and were beginning to plant their ban- 
ners upon the parapet, when he raised his revolver, and, 
with a steady nerve and matchless aim, he saw their colors 
go down three times from his shots. When he had discharged 



OVERTON COUNTY. 21 

his eleventh shot, his marc was killed, bearing five 
bullet holes in the right saddle-skirt, and he retreated, 
wounded in either foot, overtook and halted a part of his 
troops, and checked the further advance of the Federal 
forces until Gen. Lee arrived. You know the rest. It was 
one of the grandest victories for the South during the war. 

And those of her citizens who remained true to the Union, 
were equally patriotic. They gave to the Federal army parts 
of three or four companies, together with Col. A. E. Garrett, 
who commanded a Federal regiment. 

1865. 

After the war was ended, in 1865, came the most trying 
time to the good citizens of Overton county. A large ma- 
jority of them were financially ruined and politically disfran- 
chised, and there was a small minority of bad men in this 
and Fentress county, who, while society was in a state of 
fermentation, taking advantage of their assumed loyalty to 
the government, had insinuated themselves into the fa^'or of 
those in authority, and, like the skum upon the broth, were 
bubbling to the top. These men, banded together, some- 
times as a body-guard to our appointed Sheriff, at the public 
expense, but more often as vigilants, took advantage of the 
times to harass and oppress, and sometimes even murder, the 
disarmed and unprotected rebels. Gov. Brownlow appointed 
Col. John Bowles Sherifit', and gave him blank commissions 
to fill the various other offices of the county, which done, the 
civil authorities were supposed to be Reorganized and rein- 
stated. Shortly afterwards there was an election by the peo- 
ple, but, like old Rip Van "VVinkle, after a nap in the moun- 
tains, they were surprised to find that times had so changed 
that they were now incapable of choosing their own officers. 
The County Court appointed by Col. Bowles was a strict, 
jealous, and altogether a most remarkable court. After 
awhile the Legislature passed an act authorizing the Clerks 
of County Courts to issue certificates of suftrage. But the 
Bowles appointees in this county, who were jealous of their 
waning authority, thought that the acting Clerk, John Q. A. 
Sprouls, who was then looking to Legislative honors, was 



22 OVERTON COUNTY. 

issuing certificates to altogether too many rebels, and, as 
Col. Bowles had assumed the title of Deputy Governor, they, 
too, doubtless, laboring under the fond delusion that they 
v;ere a Deputy Legislature, passed the following order, which 
stands upon the records of the County Court unto this day: 
"Ordered by the County Court, that the certificates issued by 
the Clerk of this Court, be disannulled and blotted out and 
held void, and that the voters be required to get new ones." 

But, whatever else may be said of it, this was a strict court. 
It mas strict within its own body, as appears of record, 
where it is "Ordered by the County Court, that but one man 
shall sj)eak to this Court at a time, and he shall stand in 
front of the Chairman, with his head uncovered " And it 
was strict even with the persons of its members. Witness the 
following order: "Ordered by the County Court, that if 
Esquire S. wears his coon-skin cap into this Court any more, 
the Sherifi", without further order, shall forthwith proceed 
to burn the aforesaid coon-skin cap." 

Following the illustrious example of the County Court at 
an humble distance, our justices were also strict. They were 
particularly strict upon the subject of larceny, discounte- 
nancing it in every form. One of them even went so far, in 
this commendable direction, as to issue a warrant for a man, 
and bind him over to court, for the questionable oftense of 
stealing a mill site! But I also said that it was a remarkable 
court. It was remarkable for the wonderful power and tact 
of its members for constructing legal forms. If it should 
ever become necessary for any one now befor me to write a 
warrant for a man, foi^an offense against the property of his 
neighbor, he would do well to model it by the following: 
" To any lawful officer, etc. : You are hereby commanded to 
arrest the body of A. B., and bring him before me or some 
other justice of the peace, to answer the State of Tennessee 
upon a charge of assault and battery, this day committed 
upon the body of C. D., by then and there felonously killing 
his spotted heifer," etc. Or if it be the person instead of the 
offense, which he wishes particularly to describe, it would 
perhaps be better to use the following form, constructed by 
one of those eminent justices: . "To any lawful ofiicer, etc.: 



OVERTON COUNTY. 23 

You arc hereby commanded to arrest the l)ody of old man 
Sweat and his two sons, and his two sons-in-law," etc. And 
no legal form hook should be countenanced, which fails to 
follow the same high authority who words a certificate in 
this wise: "He, I the aforesaid A. B. C, do hereby 
certify," etc. 

PRESENT CONDITION. 

After a few years of turmoil and discord things began to 
assume their natural attitude. It was not man}^ years before 
quiet, peacable men could venture to town on public days with- 
out the fear of being cudgelled or shot. And now, at a dis- 
tance of more than ten years from the close of the war, 
times have wonderfully changed, and we are fast regaining 
our former strength and position. I consider the future of 
our county, as I do that of our whole country, bright. I can 
see a new era dawning upon us. We must not deceive our- 
selves as to our present condition, ■when we look back upon 
the past prosperity of our county. Those, indeed, seem 
splendid times, when in the intervals of labor, old Jacky 
France could kill one hundred and fifty-six wolves! Those, 
indeed, appear law-abiding times, when Toker Jack even 
asked permission of the court to give the "war-whoop!" 
and those, indeed, must have been prosperous times, when 
nature responded so kindly to the demands of our fathers. 
But Ave must remember that we now have thousands of con- 
veniences and advantages of which they never dreamt. And 
although our surroundings may not justify a present enthu- 
siasm, yet in the dim back-ground there are bright lights 
which cast their luminous rays ahead. It is a peculiarity of 
the human vision, that the past bears many more charms 
than the present. 

At summer eve, when heav'n's aerial bow 
Spans with bright arch the glittering hills below, 
Why to yon mountain turns the musing eye, 
Whose sun-bright summit mingles with the sky ? 
Why do those cliffs with shadowy tint, appear 
More sweet than all the landscapes smiling neai ? 
' Tis distance lends enchantment to the view, 
And robes the mountain in its azure hue." 



24 OVERTON COUNTY. 

ITS GREAT MEN". 

But I have yet to refer to the most interesting chapter in 
the history of our county. Its great men, of which no 
count}^ in the State, during the hast seventy -live years, has 
been more prolific, are the glory and the pride of Overton 
county. Its sons have filled with distinction every profession 
and almost every avocation of life. The honest and thrifty 
farmer of our county, to-day, though made poor by the vicis- 
situdes of the last fifteen years, have bright and noble exam- 
ples in the persons of such men as Jesse Roberts, who, by 
his practical good sense and honest industry, rose from the 
most abject poverty, to opulance and wealth in their own 
midst. It has given to our neighboring cities many of their 
most popular and energetic merchants. And speculation 
may well pay a tribute to Overton county, when it remem- 
bers that some of its strongest magnets, represented by Sam. 
Tate, the railroad man of Memphis, owe their origin to its 
soil. If any should ask for its distinguished phj'sicians, I 
would point them with pride to Dr. Henry M. Colquitt, of Liv- 
ingston, Dr. Simeon Hinds, of Cookeville, the late Dr. B. J. 
Bledsoe, of Livingston, Dr. John B. McConnell, of IsTashville, 
and Dr. P. D. Sims, of Chattanooga, as a few of the many 
not unworthy of that responsible profession, which it has 
furnished. If any, by charging its want of colleges, should 
imply the ignorance of its people, they must jet acknowl- 
edge that it Jias contributed much to the cause of education, 
when they remember that it has given such teachers as Dr. 
Moses Fisk, the great educator, Rev. B. W. McDonald, D.D., 
LL.D,, late President of Cumberland University, and John 
I. D. Hinds, now a professor in the same institution, and 
Vice-President of the State Teachers' Association. 

If it be chargeable with a want of churches and ministers 
among its own people, it will not be denied that it has sent 
most valuable men into many pulpits, not only of its own, 
but of adjoining States. Can the Methodist Episcopal 
Church ever forget to whom it is indebted for Elder John 
W. Phillips, of Texas, Elder T. P. Holsman, of Mississippi, 
Elder Harris, and Rev. Dennis, of Missouri, and Elder Hicks 
of Alabama? Or can the Cumberland Presbyterian Church 



OVERTON COUNTY. 25 

ever cease to be thankful for such men as Revs. James 
McDonald, and A. S. Ilaytcr, of Texas, Rev. A. tl. Good- 
pasture, of Illinois, Revs. T. W. Pendergrass, and John 
Hinds, of Missouri, Rev. Q. D. Elder of Kentucky, and Revs. 
B. W. McDonald, D.D., LL.D., W. D. Chadick, D.D., and 
T. F. Bates of Tennessee? 

And the Christian Church is no less indebted to it for such 
eminent divines as Elders Caleb Sewell, Isaac Sewell, and 
Isaac T. Reneau, of Kentucky, and Elders E. G. Sewell, 
editor of the Gospel Advocate, and Jesse Sewel, of Tennessee. 
But these are only a part of a number of valuable ministers 
from Overton county, among whom I must not fail to men- 
tion Rev. Chilton, late of West Tennessee, of the Episcopal 
Church. 

But it has been still more honored in the legal profession. 
There is no county in the State, perhaps, whose sons have 
been more eminent in the law, either upon the bench or at 
the bar. With twelve judges, two of Supreme Courts, and 
two Chancellors, some of whom have presided for more than 
twenty years, it could have kept one upon the bench without 
intermission, almost from the time we were English colonies. 
Among these is our venerable and honored fellow-citizen. 
Judge Alvan Cullom, now far receding toward the sunset of 
life, who, in addition to his valuable services as a judge and 
an advocate, has educated at least five celebrated lawyers, 
three of whom were judges, and one was Attorney General 
for the State of Missouri. The first lawyers of Overton 
county who gained any prominence, were Adam Huntsman, 
Jacob Dillen, and Stokely B. Rowan. Besides these, I have 
noticed many names in a recent article in the Union and 
American, the accuracy of which I have since confirmed by 
investigations. Missouri is indebted to it for Judge Solomon 
H. Leonard, Parker Lane, and General James B. Garden- 
hire, late Attorney General for the State ; Texas, for Daniel 
McMillan; Arkansas, for Supreme Judge Edward Cross, 
and Judge Richa];fi C. S. Brown ; Mississippi, for Judge 
James L. Totten, and Richard Nelson; Illinois, for James 
Turuey, and Tennessee, for Supreme Judge A. W. O. Tot- 
ten, of Jackson, Judge A. J. Marchbanks, of McMinnville, 



26 OVERTON COUNTY. 

who was for many years one of the best Circuit Judges of 
the State, Judge Benj. C. Totten, of Huntingdon, Judge E. 
L. Gardenhire, of Carthage, Judge W. "W. Goodpasture, of 
Livingston, Judge R. S. Windle, of Monroe, Judge James W. 
McHenry, of Nashville, Judge Wm. Cullom, of Clinton, 
Attorney General James W. "Wright, of Livingston, Attorney 
General John M. D. Mitchell, of Livingston, Samuel Turney, 
of Sparta, J. D. Goodpasture, of Livingston, James A. 
Whiteside, of Chattanooga, John R. Nelson, of Knoxville, 
and W. E. B. Jones, of McMinnville. 

In politics its sons have won laurels equally bright. In 
the thirty-four sessions of the General Assembly which have 
met since Overton county was established, men who have 
been once its citizens, have had seats twenty-eight times in 
the Senate, and forty-three times in the house. Of the sixty 
delegates who framed our Constitution of 1834, Overton 
couuty may claim at least six, viz. : Hugh C. Armstrong, 
Richard Bradshaw, Maclin Cross, Adam Huntsman, Richard 
ISTelson, and Julius C. N". Robertson, being one-tenth of the 
whole number of delegates. And the walls of our National 
Capitol have echoed to the voices of eleven of its sons. 
Hon. Ed. Cross, had a most remarkable career. He received 
a license to practice law at Monroe, in 1827, and soon after- 
ward went to Arkansas, where he was appointed Judge under 
the Territorial government, and after the State was admitted 
into the Union, was elected for three successive terms to 
the Congress of the United States, and afterwards Supreme 
Judge of his own State. He was of a very happy and san- 
guine temperament, and when he was prepared to leave for 
Arkansas, he called to bid adieu to his friend Alvan Cullom. 
Cullom had not then built up the reputation which he after- 
ward established, and as he expresses it, was feeling very 
gloomy and dejected, and thought that Cross' prospects were 
not much brighter than his own. But Cross' spirits were 
overflowing, and he exclaimed, "By the gods, Cullom, I am 
going to Arkansas, and I expect to meet yjDu in the Congress 
of the United States." And as if he had spoken the words 
of a prophet, about twenty years later they met, for the first 
time, in Congress, and remembered their parting. Hon. 



OVERTON COUNTY. 27 

Sidney H. Little, besides being a deep and accute statesman 
was a profound lawyer, and was defending the notorious 
Mormon prophet, Jo. Smith, when, while taking his family 
driving one evening, he was thrown from his carriage and 
killed. Adam Huntsman was a remarkably popular and ex- 
ceedingly witty politician. He beat Davy Crockett for Con- 
gress, using his own weapon, the only time that he was ever 
beaten. Soon after the election, Crockett remarked very la- 
conically, that the "people might go to the devil, he was go- 
ing to Texas." He did go, and was sacrificed to the Texan 
cause at the bloody Alamo. Besides these, Hon. Wm. Cul- 
lom, late Clerk of the House of Representatives, Hon. Alvan 
Cullom, Hon. E. L. Gardenhire, ex-member of the Confed- 
erate Congress, Hon. A. E. Garrett, and Hon. John L. Bev- 
eridge, the present Governor of Hlinois, who has had the 
most remarkably successful career of any politician in the 
United States, up to the late Republican Convention, which 
defeated him as a candidate for Governor, are among its dis- 
tinguished politicians. 

Although it is true that all of whom I have spoken were 
not born in Overton county, yet I have referred to none who 
did not live among its people, and imbibe the spirit of their 
mountain home, before they had won their first honors, and 
while yet they were unknown to the world. 

Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for your patient and 
courteous attention. 



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